Turning Tables
by MikazukiDreams
Summary: Light footsteps echoed through the quiet, empty night.Someone was leaving. "Stop. Don't walk away." But who was he to talk? "I couldn't stop you before, Sasuke. You can't stop me now." In which Sakura stays strong and Sasuke falls hard, and tables turn.


**Summary: **Light footsteps echoed through the quiet, empty night. The moon shone brightly in the night sky, the soft rustle of leaves swaying in the wind disturbed the absolute silence of the night. Someone was leaving. "Stop. Don't walk away." But who was he to talk? "I couldn't stop you before, Sasuke. You can't stop me now." In which Sakura stays strong and Sasuke falls hard, and tables turn.

_**Standard disclaimer applies here**_

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**Turning Tables**

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_I told myself I'd be stronger the next time. This is it._

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Two large suitcases, stuffed with scrolls. Two large suitcases, stuffed with clothes. Two large suitcases, filled with childhood memories; the painful, the pleasant, and the unforgettable.

She snapped the lock to the suitcases shut and got up, lifting the heavy bags up easily and placing them by the heavy wooden door of her apartment. She shuffled back to her room and her eyes gazed at the forgotten Team Seven photo that lay casually on the plain bed. A pretty smile grazed her lips.

Padding over to the old picture, she picked it up and glanced at the picture tenderly. In the glass frame, four familiar faces look back at her- the bright, smiling face of her best friend Naruto; her calm and cool sensei, Kakashi; her own giggling, twelve-year-old self; and finally, the pale, scowling face of _him. _Sasuke Uchiha.

She rubbed her thumb over the faces gently, and her eyes casted downward, her mind spiraling with a billion thoughts that seemed to surface just by a simple glance of an old picture.

A sudden knock on her door interrupted her deep thoughts.

A blonde head popped in the door, sparkling blue eyes watching Sakura's every move carefully.

"Hey, Ino," Sakura smiled, setting down the picture. "Is everything ready?"

The blonde smiled back. "Yeah, it is. Kakashi and Guy left a few hours back, and Tsunade-sama said she'd send somebody here for your other bags," she said, pointing her thumb in the direction of the carefully placed suitcases by the door. Her voice dropped a notch. "And none of us told him, like you asked," Ino added quietly. "Naruto's been out with him all day, training with him, so he's undoubtedly exhausted now."

"Thank you," Sakura breathed, relieved. The last thing she wanted was for Sasuke to find out, to find out that she was leaving, just like he had so many, many years ago. And just like him, she wasn't sure when she would ever be back, or when she would ever be ready to.

A worried look morphed on the pretty blonde's face. "Sakura," Ino said, "Is this what you really want? He's going to be pissed when he finds out."

The pinkette closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Yes, Ino. I'm… I'm not ready yet, you know? I thought I was but I'm not. Not as long as he's around. I've just gotta take a break, you know? Clear my head, get my thoughts straight again. I can't do that when he's here, Ino."

"But he's changed, Sakura," Ino protested. "He's came back and he changed and he became a better person for _you, _girl, so why are you leaving him?"

"Because I told myself I'd be stronger, Ino!" Sakura exclaimed, her voice bouncing off the white walls of her apartment. "I told myself that we'd be friends, but I would never fall in love with him ever again. I can't _do _that with him here, breaking my resolve."

"Why would you do that, silly?" Ino cried, throwing her hands up in frustration. "You love him and he loves you. Why is that so hard to understand?"

"He doesn't love me, Ino. We're friends, and that's all we'll ever be. I told myself- I _promised_ myself- that I wouldn't go through this again, Ino. He's going to marry someone prettier and better than me, and he'll have that dream of resurrecting his clan fulfilled and you know what? I'll be in the background, watching."

Ino's jaw dropped, speechless. "You're really dense, you know that?" she murmured softly, shaking her head. "He loves you. Everybody can see that except for you."

Sakura let out a loud sigh and rubbed her temples, as if a migraine was coming on. "I just…please, Ino. I need time, okay? Just…just let me do this. I need to." Suddenly, she felt exhausted, as if the weight of the world was tumbling down on her shoulders and crushing her down.

Ino took a long look at her best friend's face, and let out a sigh herself. "Okay," she said, walking over and enveloping her friend in a tight embrace. "But you better write, you hear?"

Laughing tearfully, Sakura returned the embrace. "Of course I will, Pig," she murmured affectionately, smiling into her best friend's shoulder.

"C'mon, you've got to go now. Tsunade-sama will send someone here in a few minutes, so I'll wait here. You go ahead, okay?" Ino pulled back, wiping tears. "And… come back, when you're ready. We'll be waiting for you."

"Of course," Sakura said softly, and bowed slightly. "Tell everyone I'm grateful for this… and if Sasuke asks, just say I'm going away for a while and I'll be back, so don't worry."

Ino nodded, and Sakura smiled.

"I'll miss you, Forehead."

"I'll miss you too, Pig."

With a final tearful wave, Sakura left.

-x-

1:45 a.m.

The glowing red numbers of his clock stood out from the darkness of the room, taunting him and distracting him from sleep. Outside, the moon shone brightly- a full moon- and a warm breeze swept through the trees.

It was a peaceful night, and Sasuke was sure there were many people inside their homes right now, sleeping peacefully, but for some reason Sasuke _couldn't. _

Tossing and turning about in his bed, he turned towards the wall, then the window, finally sitting up abruptly. He let out a frustrated sigh, and ran a pale hand through his dark tresses. An annoyed scowl morphed on his matured, handsome face, but for what reason he didn't know.

He was out all day with that annoying, loud Naruto, who seemed to put up quite a fight today. Sasuke was exhausted beyond relief, and he thought he would get a goodnight's rest, but something was bothering him, keeping him awake and alert. It was a tiny nagging in his head, an annoyed feeling coursing through his body, and a hallow feeling in his heart.

Sitting up abruptly, he threw the covers off and stalked off to the bathroom, putting on clothes along the way.

Maybe a walk would tire him out.

-x-

Strolling around on the pathway of the gates to and out of Konoha, Sasuke left out a refreshed sigh and tilted his head, staring at the bright moon on the starry sky. It was a beautiful night, peaceful and quiet, and it bathed him in an oasis of nostalgia.

It'd been a couple of years since he returned, and although he hated it at first, he soon became familiar and eventually decided to stay without any hateful thoughts.

Thinking into it…although Naruto and his other Konoha friends and the villagers made him feel welcome again, it was mainly because of _her. _

She was like the light to his life, the splash of colour to his black-and-white world. She was the melodious laugh that made him chuckle, the smile that made him smirk, the happy, cheerful girl that made his heart take flight and feel things he hadn't felt in a very, very long time. She was the pink and green that brought out his navy blue and black, and she was the one he felt at home with.

Somehow, the girl had wormed her way into his stone cold heart, made a home, and warmed it. Little by little, bit by bit, she became his world.

An unconscious smirk made its way to his lips, and he turned around, about to head home when a petite figure in the distance made his stop in his tracks.

Light footsteps echoed through the quiet, empty night. Narrowing his dark eyes, he saw that the figure was wearing a small backpack, slung casually on their back. Their footsteps were quick, light, and elegant, as if they were in a rush but not really wanting to go.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that that someone was leaving.

Sasuke scoffed, and was about to ignore it when he saw the figure close up. It was a… girl. A petite girl with medium-length _pink _hair tied up in a messy ponytail, her bright emerald orbs glowing against her porcelain skin.

It was…_Sakura. _And she was _leaving. _

His perfect, calm night came to an abrupt end, crashing down on his world.

If she noticed him, she sure didn't act that way. Instead, she brushed by him casually, as if he wasn't there at all, while he stared at her retreating back with a disbelieving look on his face.

"Sakura?" he finally managed to utter out, and ran up in front of her, blocking her way. "What are you doing?"

Her response was quiet and firm. "I'm leaving, Sasuke." She looked up at him, right in the eye, and he saw all her emotions hidden behind- anger, frustration, disbelief, sadness, worry. She looked exhausted, like he felt earlier that day, with dark bags visible under her green eyes and a small, sad smile on her face.

She walked around him, and kept going as if it were something she did every day. The familiarity of the situation hit him like a wave on a sunny day, knocking the breath out of him and nearly making him laugh at the irony of the situation.

"For a mission?" he asked, even though he knew the answer before he even thought it.

"No," Sakura replied breezily, not bothering to stop or turn back around. "I'm leaving for Ame."

"Why?"

"Because," she sighed, "because it's something I need to do, okay?" She quieted down for a minute, before adding painfully, "I don't know when I'll be back."

"Where's all your stuff?" Sasuke demanded, stalling her.

"It's already at my place in Ame," Sakura answered. "Tsunade-sama and the others delivered it for me."

Suddenly, it all dawned to him- this was why Naruto was pushing him so hard today, so he would be tired out and he would have never found out of Sakura's departure until afterwards. This was the reason why his friends were all quiet or busy, because they didn't want him to find out. _She _didn't want him to find out.

"You planned on leaving without telling me," he said bluntly at her retreating back, the white circle of the Haruno clan standing out of the darkness. "Why?"

"You didn't need to know, Sasuke," she said. "It's getting late. You should get going home now."

"No," he snarled, catching up to her easily and snatching her wrist, holding her in place. Her back faced him, but he felt her tense up at the contact. "Stop. Don't walk away."

Her next words were like ice as she said steely, "I couldn't stop you before, Sasuke. You can't stop me now."

And before he could think, or even react to her words, a light tap in his neck made him blink and a numbing pain shot out through his body, coursing through his veins and paralyzing him.

The last thing he saw was Sakura's bleary face, and her whispered words, "I'm sorry."

-x-

The pain was unbearable.

It'd been a few days since she made it to her new place in Ame, and she was having the worst time settling in. The pain, still fresh from days ago, burned. The image of a desperate Sasuke was burned in her eyelids, and it was the first image she saw every time she closed her eyes. Reliving the night days ago was like rubbing in salt to an reopened scar, stinging her skin and making tears appear in her pretty green eyes.

It was undoubtedly the most difficult thing she'd ever had to do in her whole life, but she tried to make the best of it. She was going to be stronger, she promised herself. She was going to be strong and go back to Konoha as an unbreakable girl, and she would watch Sasuke fall in love with a perfect girl and have his last goal fulfilled, and she was going to watch them grow old together and she was going to be happy for him, because they were friends.

That's what friends do, don't they? They support each other.

In a way, she was also doing this for Sasuke's good; with her gone, he could have more personal space, more time to spend with Naruto instead of her, and more time to see the beauty of the other girls in the village. He wouldn't have to listen to her constant nagging, worrying, and scolding all the time, which was probably a good thing.

_Yes, _she thought, _it's for the best._

But somehow, it seemed like she was trying to convince herself.

-x-

He hated everything. Everything.

"Damn it!" he sneered, slamming his fist down on his glass table, shattering the glass and cutting his hands. Blood poured out messily and his fist burned with an all-too-familiar pain, but it was nothing compared to the ache in his heart.

It'd been a month since her departure, and not a word from her since. She didn't call him at all, nor did she bother sending him letters.

In all, she forgot about him, or so it seemed.

Not bothering to pick up the glass shards scattered dangerously on his ceramic kitchen floor or cleaning up his bloodied hand, he shuffled to his bedroom, slammed the door shut, and plopped down in his horrendously, so-not-Uchiha-Sasuke-like navy blue bed.

It's been a month since she left, and it's also been a month since he slept peacefully or ate properly. What was the reason to, without her here? What was the reason for, when she wasn't going to be there in the morning? What was the point, when she was miles away? No reason, he decided. No point. She'd probably moved on in Ame, found a decent guy who was perfect for her, and she'd probably been on many dates already.

After all, she was a beautiful girl. Stunning, mesmerizing, absolutely gorgeous in every way. She was the image of perfection. She was the Beauty, and he was the Beast. He was the one with the dark past, the shattered hope, the demon; she was the light, the princess, the angel that pulled him from the dark and brought out the goodness in him.

But she was gone, so what was he supposed to do?

Nothing, he decided. Nothing at all.

-x-

"Teme! Hey, teme! You home, bastard?"

It was twelve noon, and Sasuke was interrupted by Naruto's sudden pounding on his front door. Promptly ignoring the annoying blonde's calls, he rolled around on his bed again, trying to shield Naruto's loud voice from his thoughts.

"Hey, bastard! Open the damn door! I know you're in there!"

Growling irritably, he shoved his thick covers off and stomped towards the door, a dark aura rolling off of him.

He threw the door open, slamming it against the perpendicular wall, denting the perfect whitewash.

"What the _fuck _do you want?" he snarled viciously.

He was _not _happy.

-x-

Naruto's eyes widened as he took in the rare sight of a disheveled Sasuke- his dark, jet-black hair stuck out all over the place, his pale skin looking like it was gray, his wrinkled clothes. The sight that scared him the most, though, wasn't his messy clothes or his messy hair.

What scared Naruto the most was Sasuke's _eyes._

They were empty, hallow, as if all the life had been sucked out of them. His cheeks seemed hallow and Sasuke had been visibly thinner since, well, since _she _left.

"Oi, teme," Naruto said, "Have you been eating?"

"Who cares?" Sasuke scoffed, storming back into his house. Naruto followed, and nearly fell over at how unorganized the house was. Glass shards were splattered all over the floor, bloodstains _everywhere, _clothes thrown all about, broken chairs, broken tables…broken heart.

"Teme- Sasuke, what the hell have you been doin-," Naruto started, walking down the hall to the young Uchiha's room and opening the door, only to have his words caught in his throat.

Rolled up in a ball on the bed was Sasuke, shivering even though a thick comforter covered him. His skin was pale and dripping with sweat, and his fists were clenching and unclenching under the covers.

Naruto had never, ever, _ever _seen his best friend, the cool and aloof Sasuke Uchiha, in so much pain.

"Sasuke," he said gently, shaking the dark-haired boy, "Sasuke, calm down…"

"Sakura." Sasuke coughed. "_Sakura."_

The blonde blinked. "Sakura-chan?"

"Sakura. Sakura. Sakura. Why… _Sakura." _Sasuke kept repeating her name, over and over like a mantra.

Realization smacked Naruto in the face. Sasuke was in pain because of _Sakura. _All this time, he thought his beloved Sakura-chan's plan was for the best, but now, looking at his best friend, wracked with heartbreak, Naruto was wrong.

Sasuke would never be better without Sakura here. They were meant to be, like yin and yang, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella and Prince Charming…

"Don't worry, Sasuke-teme," Naruto smiled reassuringly. "I'll get Sakura-chan. I'll get her for you."

The only response he got was a shiver.

-x-

It's been a little over a month since she left Konoha, but nothing changed for Sakura. Every passing day made her think of nothing but Sasuke, Sasuke, and Sasuke. He was the first thing she thought about in the morning, the last thing she thought before she went to sleep, and every second in between. He occupied her mind like never before, even though they were miles apart.

_Maybe this is just the hardest part, _she thought, _getting over him. _But did she?

There was no denying the truth; she moved away to forget about her love for Sasuke, but now she realized that it was impossible.

Falling out of love with Sasuke Uchiha was like counting the all the stars in the sky- impossible.

She tried. She really, really did.

Pulling the elastic out of her pale pink hair, she shuffled to her living room and sat down on the couch. Clicking on the television, she went back to the kitchen and grabbed a hot cup of tea, returning to the couch and watched the show. Her eyes watched the screen, but her mind was a galaxy away.

Loud, frantic pounding cut off her thoughts, directing them back to reality. Staring blankly at the wall, she narrowed her eyes. Nobody in Ame knew her well enough to be pounding on her door at ten at night.

Tiptoeing over to the door, she grabbed a kunai and was about to jump out at the knocker when a familiar voice yelled out, "Sakura-chan? Sakura-chan, hurry!"

She threw open the door. "Naruto?" she asked, alarmed. "What's the matter?"

"Sasuke-teme," Naruto exclaimed, panting from the long travel. "Sasuke-teme is sick and he misses you and Sakura-chan, you have to come back! Sasuke, that bastard, needs you!"

"Sasuke?" What could have happened? Sakura thought that Sasuke would get over the fact that she left, and she thought he had moved on, but Naruto's words brought a shard of hope in her heart and she prayed that he was okay.

"Yes! He's sick and he's hurt, Sakura-chan. Can't you see? He _needs _you!"

That was enough. Throwing on her outdoor clothes, she ran after Naruto.

"I'm coming, Sasuke. I'm coming."

-x-

"Where is he?"

"Hospital. Hurry, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura flew to the hospital, right after Naruto. They had travelled the entire night, only stopping for a short break halfway, but adrenaline pumped through her veins and she wasn't exhausted and she never complained. Not when Sasuke was waiting for her.

She burst through the hospital doors, and a group of awaiting nurses greeted her.

"Hurry, Haruno-san! Uchiha-san is in room 228!"

Sakura had never moved that fast in her whole life.

-x-

Darkness.

The pitch black clouded around Sasuke, suffocating him as he tried to navigate his way through unsuccessfully. Somewhere nearby, he heard frantic voices and cries, but he from where he couldn't tell.

Blinking, he walked forward, then turned around. He couldn't see anything.

Suddenly, a bright light lit up somewhere in the distance, and a soft yet worried voice called out to him.

"Sasuke-kun? Sasuke-kun, open your eyes."

The voice was gentle and tender, leading him to the light. A feather-light touch grazed his cheeks as he walked- ran- towards the light, which was getting brighter and brighter the closer he got.

"Sasuke-kun, wake up."

He was almost there...so, so close...

"Sasuke-kun."

With a final sprint, he burst through the light and it exploded.

Onyx eyes shot open, and Sasuke sat up, panting and sweating. A cool cloth was placed on his forehead, and the gentle touch from earlier was a person's hand, caressing his cheek.

"Sasuke-kun, I'm sorry."

His eyes darted up, only to be greeted by dazzling green ones. Blinking several times, he pinched himself to make sure that it wasn't a dream, and he wasn't going to wake up alone in his bed again.

After confirming that no, it wasn't a dream, and that Sakura was really here, smiling at him and taking care of him and breaking him from his nightmares, he did the first thing that came to mind.

His lean, muscular arm shot out and he grabbed her and held her close, ignoring her soft gasp and burying his face in her vanilla-scented hair.

"Sakura," he breathed. This was home, he decided, with her close to him. "Don't ever leave again."

"I won't," she whispered back tearfully. "I'm sorry."

"Why? Why did you?"

"Because," he felt her tense up, "because I didn't want to fall in love with you again, Sasuke. I didn't want to go through that heartache again. I'm sorry for being so selfish."

The pair was quiet for a moment, just holding each other close and enjoying each other's company again after a long month.

"You don't," Sasuke said suddenly, breaking the silence. "You don't have to go through that heartache again."

"Hm?" she asked, eyes wide.

He gave her a smirk. "I'm here, aren't I? I'm here and you're here and we're together."

Understanding what he was implying, Sakura laughed. "We didn't do very good on our own, now did we?" she said jokingly.

"Aa," Sasuke agreed. Placing a light kiss on the crown of her head, he pulled back from the hug.

"Are you hungry?" Sakura asked, glancing at him worriedly. "You don't look very good. I'll go cook something for you to eat, okay?"

"Aa," he said again, and got up from the hospital bed. Putting on his shoes, he walked back over to Sakura and grabbed her hand, folding it in his lightly. "That sounds good."

Smiling, Sakura lead him out of the hospital room. A happy, whole feeling blossomed in her chest, warming her heart. All this time she thought that Sasuke thought of her as nothing more than just a friend, but she was wrong.

And she was glad for that.

Tightening her grip on his warm, calloused hand, a brilliant, mega-watt smile stretched across her face, because it wasn't an ending. It was a beginning. They were equals now. There were no more turning tables, no more wishing from afar. No more assumptions.

They were Sasuke and Sakura, and they were a broken kind of beautiful, and this was their beginning.

_**Fin.**_

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**Note... **kinda pointless, but I needed a break from my physics review so I typed this baby up. Sasuke`s a little OC, but I did mention that he`d changed for Sakura, so yeah.

Tell me what you think, yeah? I love hearing from you's.

:) x

-A


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